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A chuppa story

It looks like just a pretty tablecloth, held up on four poles to form a canopy.

Steve Bisson

Merry Bodziner holds photos of her daughter Erica's wedding to Raanon Gal, left, and her 30th anniversary renewal of vows with her husband Richard. Both occurred under the handmade Israeli chuppa.

Savannah Morning News

Erica and Raanon Gal on their wedding day under the handmade Israeli chuppa.

Savannah Morning News

It looks like just a pretty tablecloth, held up on four poles to form a canopy.

But the chuppa carries a heavy religious significance to traditional Jewish newlyweds.

The cloth symbolizes the home and the spiritual birth of a couple's life together.

Sometimes, the chuppa comes with a story.

One recently used by a local family brought more than just a lovely wedding.

The story began last April when Merry Bodziner, president of the Savannah Jewish Federation, began planning her daughter Erica's wedding. While flipping through a magazine, she stumbled upon a photograph of a special chuppa associated with a familiar name: Naava Applebaum.

The 21-year-old woman was killed on the eve of her wedding in 2003 by a suicide bomber in a Jerusalem café.

Her father Dr. David Applebaum also died in the attack. As head of the Shaare Zedek Medical Center's Department of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Applebaum was widely known as an expert on treating the victims of attacks like the one that took his own life.

In their memory, Shaare Zedek launched a new fund-raising arm to support the Sherut Leumi National Service, an Israeli program for women who are exempted from military service. Naava Applebaum had participated in Sherut Leumi.

As a fund-raiser, the organization received two donated chuppas, both hand-embroidered by Israeli artist Adina Gatt.

The Bodziners felt a connection to the story of the Applebaums.

Merry's husband, Richard Bodziner, is also a physician and has colleagues who attended medical school with Dr. Applebaum.

The Bodziners tearfully remembered the day she learned Naava and her father were killed.

"It really did strike an emotional cord," said Erica Bodziner Gal who was a part of a volunteer program in Jerusalem at the time. "On the news in Israel, they continued showing her wedding dress along with pieces of ceremonial objects that were going to be used in her wedding."

After seeing the magazine story about the Naava Applebaum memorial chuppas, the Bodziners decided it would be a fitting use for Erica's wedding.

"I told Erica, 'This is something Daddy and I would love to do,'" Merry said.

After making a $3,000 donation to The Naava Applebaum Circle of Life Endowment, the Bodziners chose a white chuppa with a large circle in the center surrounded by four birds, flowers and pomegranates, which symbolize wisdom and intelligence. In small letters below the circle, a psalm displayed the word "Naava," which means "pleasant" or "beautiful" in Hebrew.

In November, the chuppa arrived at the Bodziner's Landings home in two crates, one containing the cloth and the other contained four poles to support the canopy.

The wedding took place December 18 at Congregation B'nai B'rith Jacob synagogue with hundreds of guests. All received small cards explaining the background of the special chuppa.

"Both of our families are very connected to Israel. All of our kids have been to Israel," said Sharon Paz, mother of the groom, Raanon Gal. "This sort of connected them at a meaningful time to Jews around the world and in Israel. It put their joy into perspective and made them appreciative of what they have."

Rabbi Avigdor Slatus conducted the marriage ceremony of Erica and Raanon under the special chuppa.

But his work- and the chuppa's - wasn't done.

Two days later, Slatus was back under the chuppa, this time for a surprise 30th anniversary renewal of vows Merry had set up for her and Richard.

After the final celebration, the family took down the chuppa and placed the cloth and posts back in their separate crates. Merry secured the combination lock on the crate containing the cloth and sent the chuppa back to Israel.

Its journey was supposed to take four days.

But in January, staff at The Naava Applebaum program called the Bodziners looking for the chuppa.

The crate containing the cloth had never arrived.

The Bodziners tracked the package to a warehouse in New Jersey. Then it seemed to disappear.

"We were glad no one else was waiting to use the chuppa in their wedding," said Erica.

Merry was devastated, however.

Leaders of the foundation gave up waiting and commissioned a new chuppa.

Then on March 14, the Jewish holiday of Purim, the Bodziners received a surprise phone call from a familiar staff member from the package store they used to mail the chuppa.

"Mrs. Bodziner, you are not going to believe this," were the worker's first words.

The chuppa had arrived in Savannah, wrapped in a plastic bag, with no return address. The cloth was in near perfect condition, with only a few snags in a corner.

Merry said the staff couldn't say how or where the wedding canopy was found or how it had been directed back to Savannah.

Some believe its mysterious return is a message.

"The fact that we find it on Purim, there's something taking place we have yet to find out," said Rabbi Slatus.

Purim commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination through means that seemed coincidental or lucky. Jews associate the holiday with the concept that "God works in mysterious ways."

Merry accepted the chuppa's return as a reminder that in the face of tragedy and loss, miracles still take place.

"It's a reminder to keep us vigilant and to always remember who we are and how fortunate we are."

What is a chuppa?

In a Jewish wedding, a chuppa (or huppa) is a portable canopy under which a couple stands while the ceremony is performed. Depending on the local custom and the preference of the bride and groom, the chuppa may be a simple Jewish prayer shawl (tallit) suspended from four poles, a richly embroidered cloth of silk or velvet, or a flower-covered trellis.